A wide variety of different types of communication cables and composite cables incorporate twisted pair conductors. In twisted pair cables, signal performance may be degraded due to a wide variety of factors, including signal attenuation and crosstalk. Crosstalk typically occurs when a signal transmitted on one channel (e.g., a first twisted pair) creates an undesired effect in another channel (e.g., a second twisted pair). Crosstalk is usually caused by undesired capacitive, inductive, or conductive coupling from one channel to another.
A wide variety of applicable cable standards, such as Telecommunication Industry Association (“TIA”) standards, Electronic Industries Alliance (“EIA”) standards, American Nation Standards Institute (“ANSI”) standards, International Organization for Standardization (“ISO”) standards, and/or International Electrotechnical Commission (“IEC”) standards, specify performance parameters for twisted pair cables. For example, cable standards may specify acceptable crosstalk performance parameters for various types of twisted pair communication cables. Additionally, as bandwidth requirements increase for cables, it is often necessary to improve crosstalk performance.
Typically, crosstalk may be reduced in a cable by maintaining a relatively consistent cable construction and by maintaining relatively consistent conductor separation dimensions along a longitudinal length of the cable. In certain conventional cables, such as cables described in U.S. Pat. No. 6,506,976 and U.S. Pat. Pub. No. 2013/0014972, dielectric films have been positioned between the individual conductors of twisted pairs in an attempt to reduce crosstalk. However, with conventional dielectric film separators, the individual conductors of a twisted pair are subject to various tensions and forces exerted on the cable, such as compressive forces. These forces may cause the conductors to shift or move along one or multiple axes, thereby resulting in degraded and/or inconsistent cable performance. The performance degradations may be greater at higher frequencies. Accordingly, there is an opportunity for improved twisted pair cables that incorporate dielectric separators between the individual conductors of one or more twisted pairs.